Libya's Lap Green Networks has won the bidding to acquire 75 percent of Zambian fixed-line operator Zamtel for USD 257 million, the Zambia Development Agency announced. Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane said Lap Green Networks is exactly the sort of partner the government was looking for when it started the process well over a year ago. Lap is the Libyan government's foreign investment company. It already holds stakes in a number of African telecom operators, including Rwandatel, Uganda Telecom and Sahelcom in Cote d'Ivoire. Speaking while announcing the results of the sale, the minister said Lap would lay off all Zamtel's 2,341 staff before rehiring a "significant portion" of the workforce. Angola's Unitel was the other short-listed bidder, while Russia's Altimo had also made an offer. Opposition politicians and trade unions have criticised the sale, saying Zambians should hold a bigger stake in the company, Reuters reports. Musokotwane said the government would retain a 25 percent holding in the firm and have an active say in its affairs, including two out of seven seats on the board and veto rights over certain decisions.
